External Device Not Showing In My Computer

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Summary :

  1. External Device Not Showing In My Computer Windows
  2. External Device Not Showing In My Computer Drive
  3. External Device Not Detected
  4. External Storage Not Showing

Sometimes, when you connect an external hard drive to your computer, you may find it fails to show up. The external hard drive not showing up problem occurs frequently on Windows PC or Mac, and it could lead to data loss.

You may experience that your USB or external drive has been connected to the computer, but it is not showing in File Explorer or My Computer, but shows in Disk Management instead. Under this situation, it will be regarded as an unknown disk and shows the capacity to be 2048 GB in the Disk Management.

Show disabled recording devices; Right-click anywhere in the middle of the window and check the boxes next to the Show Disabled Devices and Show Disconnected Devices An entry named Stereo Mix should appear. Right-click on the newly appeared Stereo Mix entry and click the Enable button below in order to activate it. When you encounter the issue of SD card not showing up on your PC, the primary thing to check is if there’s a connection problem. You need to test the SD Card on a different USB port or on a new card reader in order to ascertain it’s not from those devices.

There are some useful fixes to the external hard drive not detected on Windows 10. Please read this page offered by MiniTool to know how to access the drive without data loss.

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External Hard Drive Not Showing Up PC

Whether you're plugging in a new hard drive or an old one to your computer, it is possible that you can't see it. Some people even reported that the external hard drive is showing up in devices but not in my computer. This is not a rare issue; it has ever happened to many people and will be happening to more.

What are the possible causes for external hard drive not showing up on computer issue?

  • Insufficient power supply
  • Lack of drive letter
  • Outdated drivers
  • File system issues
  • Partition problems
  • Dead USB port
  • …

In the following content, I’ll mainly discuss external hard drive not showing up/recognized on Windows 10 in 2 different situations. After that, I’ll tell you what do I do if my hard drive is not detected.

External Hard Drive Not Showing Up in File Explorer

Seagate external hard drive not showing up.

I know there are a million posts about this issue, but I haven't come across one that fixed my issue and I really don't want to have to shell out a ton of money recovering my data. Running Windows 10 on an Asus K55N and connecting a Seagate Free Agent Go Flex Desk 2TB external drive. When I connect the drive, it shows in Disk Management and the Safely Remove Hardware icon, but I can't get it to populate in File Explorer. I have not tested on another computer, but I have tested with a different USB cable and was able to connect two other external drives. I did the trial of the Seagate Recovery Suite and was able to see all my files listed, I was just hoping to not have to pay to recover the data (if that's what it boils down to, so be it).- said Corey_23 on Tom’s Hardware Forum

It’s easy to find that an external hard drive doesn't appear in File Explorer after you connected it to a Windows 10 computer. You should go to open Windows Disk Management to check whether your disk shows up there. If you find the external hard disk showing up in Disk Management as unallocated/not initialized/offline, it would be easy to fix the external hard drive not recognized problem. This is what people described as external hard disk detected but not showing in My Computer.

Please read Recover Data From Disk Shows As Unknown Without Damaging It to learn how to fix this.

Tip: If Seagate external hard drive not showing up on Windows 10, can you access data in it? Please read Exciting News: Seagate Hard Drive Data Recovery Is Simplified and learn how to finish Seagate external hard drive recovery.

External Hard Drive Not Showing Up in Disk Management

WD external hard drive not recognized Windows 10.

Case 1:

I have a WD My Passport portable USB hard drive which one of my computers can't detect when plugged in. It doesn't show up in My computer, Device Manager or Disk Management. The only way to get the device recognized is to reboot the computer with it connected, enter BIOS (and do nothing), and reboot again. The drive works fine on my other computer. It has the WD Unlocker Software built in.- posted by Lagnaetti on Windows 10 Forums, Drivers and Hardware

Obviously, Lagnaetti finds that his external hard drive is not being detected by My computer, Device Manager or even Disk Management. He wants to know how to fix the external hard disk not detected issue. In fact, there are some cases in which an external hard drive doesn't show up due to it being broken physically. Yet, there are still chances that the unrecognized hard disk can be repaired.

Tip: The WD external hard drive is used widely by people throughout the world. And I advise you to recover data from WD external hard disk which is not detecting. To know “how do I fix my WD external hard drive not showing up on my computer”, please read the next part of this article.

In addition, there are also some people who said their PS4 external hard drive is not recognized or Xbox One external hard drive is not detected/not showing up. I suggest that they connect the external hard drive to the computer and check.

How Do I Get Windows 10 to Recognize My External Hard Drive

  1. Change a USB port.
  2. Check the drive in Disk Management.
  3. Run the Troubleshooter.
  4. Update/uninstall/roll back driver.
  5. Reinstall USB controllers.
  6. Enable legacy USB support in BIOS.
  7. Update system to the latest version.
  8. Disable USB selective suspend setting.
  9. Update motherboard chipset drivers.
  10. Fix the system built-in drivers.
  11. Kill virus on the computer and external drive.

There are many useful workarounds for fixing the external hard drive not being detected in Windows 10 (how to repair hard disk not detected in Windows 7 is basically the same).

Method 1: Change a USB Port

The most direct reason why an external hard drive is not detected by computer is a broken USB port. You should try to connect the hard drive via another USB port or on another computer. If the USB device not recognized problem is solved, it is the USB port that should be blamed.

Additionally, the USB drive not showing up Windows 10 may also occur when the power supply of a USB port is not sufficient. In this case, I advise you not to use USB hubs because some of them are not able to provide enough power supply to the external hard drive.

Method 2: Check & Fix the Drive in Disk Management

Sometimes, an external hard drive not showing in Windows Explorer could appear in Disk Management. How to open Disk Management:

  1. Press Windows + X keys.
  2. Click on Disk Management option from the pop-up menu.

External Device Not Showing In My Computer Windows

What prevents a drive from showing up:

  • External hard drive Unallocated
  • External hard drive Not Initialized
  • External hard drive Offline
  • No drive letter

How to fix the problem in the above 4 cases:

Case 1: create a new volume.

  1. Right click on the unallocated space.
  2. Choose New Simple Volume (or other volume types you need).
  3. Click on the Next button in the New Simple Volume Wizard Welcome window.
  4. Specify the volume size and click Next.
  5. Finish Assign Drive Letter or Path and click Next.
  6. Finish Format Partition and click Next.
  7. Click on the Finish button in the New Simple Volume Wizard Completing window.
  8. Wait for the operation to complete.

Watch how to Create Partition with MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Case 2: Initialize Disk:

  1. Right click on the unknown, Not Initialised disk.
  2. Choose Initialise Disk from the context menu.
  3. Choose a partition style from MBR and GPT and click on the OK button to confirm.
  4. Wait for the operation to complete.

Use MiniTool Partition Wizard to Initialize to MBR Disk or Initialize to GPT Disk.

Case 3: set Online:

  1. Right click on the disk which shows Offline.
  2. Choose Online from the pop-up menu.
  3. Wait a second.

Case 4: Change Drive Letter and Paths:

  1. Right click on the disk partition which has no drive letter.
  2. Choose Change Drive Letter and Paths from the context menu.
  3. Click on the Add button in the pop-up window.
  4. Assign a drive letter to the partition and click OK to confirm.
  5. Wait a second.

Change Drive Letter more easily with MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Do you want to recover your files from external hard drive not detected? If yes, please read the following tutorial.

How to recover files from external hard drive not detected?

Step 1: download MiniTool Power Data Recovery. Then, install and launch it.

Step 2: Choose Removable Disk Drive from the main window and select the external hard drive.

Step 3: click on the Scan button to scan the selected external hard drive.

Step 4: browse the scan results during the scan. Alternatively, you can wait until the end of the scan and then select the files you want to restore.

Step 5: press the Save button and choose another drive with enough free space to store the recovered files.

Step 6: press the OK button to confirm the selection and start external hard drive file recovery.

At last, you can check the recovered files to put an end to the recovery work.

Tip: MiniTool Power Data Recovery can’t work for Mac. If you need to recover files on Mac, please use Stellar Data Recovery for Mac instead. If your (external or internal) hard drive not showing up Mac and you want to fix it, please read this page.

Please read this page if your external hard drive seems dead and you need to recover important data from it:

If you are stuck in finding ways to recover files from dead external hard drive efficiently, this passage will be very helpful.

Method 3: Run Troubleshooter

For USB device not recognized in Windows, there is a useful tool to help: Hardware and Device Troubleshooter.

How to run Hardware and Device Troubleshooter:

  1. Open Settings the way you like.
  2. Choose Update and Security from Windows Settings panel.
  3. Go to the Troubleshoot tab.
  4. Scroll down to choose Hardware and Devices from the right pane.
  5. Click on the Run the Troubleshooter button.
  6. Wait for the detecting to complete.
  7. Once the scan is completed, Windows will list the found issues.
  8. You should choose the issue you want to fix and click Next.

Method 4: Fix Device Driver Problems

You can open Device Manager to check and fix the issue.

  1. Press Start + X keys on the keyboard.
  2. Choose Device Manager from the pop-up menu.
  3. Expand Disk drives option.
  4. Right click on the problematic drive.
  5. Choose from Update driver, Uninstall device and Properties.
  6. Finish the rest steps by looking at system prompt.
  • The Update driver feature helps to fix the USB drive not recognized problem due to a corrupted/outdated device driver.
  • The Uninstall device feature is used to uninstall your USB external hard drive with the issue. After that, you should remove the USB device from the computer and then reconnect it after at least 1 minute. This is useful when your USB driver has become unstable or corrupt.
  • The Properties feature will help you further diagnose the problem by looking at the error Besides, you can choose to Roll Back Driver by shifting to Driver tab after clicking Properties.

Method 5: Reinstall USB Controllers

Also, you should open Device Manager using the above method or other ways you like. Then, finish the following steps:

  1. Find and expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
  2. Right click on a device and choose Uninstall device from the context menu.
  3. Click on the Uninstall button in the pop-up window.
  4. Repeat step 2 and step 3 to uninstall all devices under Universal Serial Bus controllers.
  5. Restart your computer and Windows will install the USB controllers automatically.

Method 6: Enable Legacy USB Support

Sometimes, you may find your hard disk not detected in BIOS. This may be caused by the disabled Legacy USB Support.

How to enable USB support:

  1. Restart your PC.
  2. Press the corresponding button to enter the BIOS utility.
  3. Shift to Advanced tab.
  4. Choose USB Configuration.
  5. Select Legacy USB Support and set it to be Enabled.
  6. Exit and save changes.
Note: the process will be a little bit different on different computer motherboards.

It’s not an easy task to recover data from a hard disk that is not detected in BIOS especially when the disk is an internal one. The good news is MiniTool Power Data Recovery bootable edition provides an easy way to recover data when the PC won’t start. As for how to recover data from undetected internal hard disk step by step, please read:

If you’re stuck in the data recovery from corrupted internal hard disk, the solutions and software provided here will be of great help.

Method 7: Install the Latest Windows Updates

This method has the same functionality as the Update driver.

  1. Type Windows Update into the Cortana search box.
  2. Select Check for updates from the Best match.
  3. Click on the Check for updates button and wait.
  4. Finish the rest operations according to prompts.

If you find some files get lost after Windows Update, please use MiniTool Power Data Recovery to recover data at once.

Method 8: Disable USB Selective Suspend Setting

  1. Type power plan into the Cortana search box.
  2. Select Choose a power plan from the search result.
  3. Click Change plan settings next to the plan used currently.
  4. Click Change advanced power settings.
  5. Find USB settings and click on the + button to expand it.
  6. Click on the + button to expand USB selective suspend setting.
  7. Change Setting to be Disabled.
  8. Click on the Apply button to confirm and click on the OK button to close.

Method 9: Install the Latest Chipset Drivers for Motherboard

  1. Look for the documentation of your computer to find the name of the motherboard manufacturer.
  2. Visit the website of the manufacturer.
  3. Find the drivers proper for your motherboard and install it on your computer.

Method 10: Repair the System Built-in Drivers

  • Press F8 or another button to enter the safe mode during the boot process; select restart or shut down the computer and power on it later to enter the normal mode (to repair the registry).
  • If the problem persists, please enter safe mode again to choose System Restore in order to restore your system to an earlier point when there’s no such problem.
  • If the problem persists, please use the system disk to repair; open the command prompt, enter SFC / scannow, press Enter and insert the original system disk to repair the system
  • If the problem persists, please set the CD-ROM as the first boot device in the BIOS; then, insert the system installation disc and press R key to select repair installation.
  • If the problem still persists, I advise you to reinstall your OS.

Method 11: Run Anti-virus Program

If your PC is attacked by virus, unfortunately, any external hard drive connected to this PC will be affected. The virus may cause the external hard drive not showing issue. Please run anti-virus software to kill the virus and get Windows 10 to recognize your external hard drive.

RECOMMENDATION:

To recover data from virus infected external hard drive, you can try using MiniTool Power Data Recovery because of its excellent performance, high security, and simple operations. How to recover files after virus attack:

I feel glad to share solutions with users to help them recover files deleted by virus attack quickly and safely.

How to Fix: External Hard Disk Detected But Not Opening

External

There are also some people saying that their external hard drive could be detected by Windows, but can't be opened. The most direct reason is the file system problem.

When the file system of your hard drive is not supported by Windows, you won’t be able to access the drive. For instance, Windows gives no support for the ext4 file system (designed for Linux) and the HFS + file system (designed for Mac).

After clicking on the drive, you’ll be asked to format the disk before you can use it.

  • If you choose Format, you should know that all your data saved here will be lost.
  • If you choose Cancel, you will see the message: The volume does not contain a recognized file system.

External Device Not Showing In My Computer Drive

Actually, themost common causes are:

Device
  • The file system is damaged.
  • The file system is not supported.
  • The drive becomes RAW.
  • The parameter is incorrect.
  • The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.
  • …

2 Methods for Solving External Hard Disk Detected But Not Opening

  1. Run CHKDSK in Command Prompt.
  2. Reformat the drive by using MiniTool Partition Wizard.

There are two useful methods for fixing the external hard drive detected but not opening error: run CHKDSK and format the drive.

Method 1: run CHKDSK.

  1. Type cmd into the Cortana search box on the taskbar (what if Windows 10 taskbar is not working?).
  2. Right click on Command Prompt from the search result.
  3. Choose Run as administrator from the context menu.
  4. Choose Yes in the User Account Control window.
  5. Type chkdsk /r * (* stands for the drive letter) and press Enter.
  6. Wait for the stages to complete.

Method 2: format the drive.

  1. Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard.
  2. Select the drive with an unsupported file system.
  3. Choose Partition from the menu bar and choose Format from the submenu.
  4. Choose NTFS or FAT32 as the new file system.
  5. Click on the OK button to confirm.
  6. Press the Apply button in the main software window.
  7. Choose Yes in the pop-up window to apply pending changes.
  8. Wait for operations to complete.
  9. Click on the OK button in the Successful window.

Click to see Format Partition Tutorial.

Conclusion

External Device Not Detected

Though it may seem strange, it is not a rare problem that the external hard drive is not showing up/recognized/detected. There are many factors that could lead to this problem. When you find that your external hard drive is not showing up in your computer, please use the methods mentioned above to help your computer recognize the hard drive. You can also refer to this post to learn how to recover data from your external hard drive in different ways.

External Hard Drive Not Showing Up FAQ

What do I do if my external hard drive is not detected?
First of all, you should go to open the Disk Management tool on your computer. Then, browse all the drives in the list to check whether the target hard drive is displayed here. If the external hard drive is found, please format it properly to make it show up.
According to study, the USB drive could disappear due to a lot of reason. The root reason for causing that is the driver of USB is tool old, missing, or corrupted somehow. You’d better make use of the Device Manager to check the status of USB driver.
The reason why a hard drive is not recognized in computer BIOS is not so complex. Once the connection between hard drive and PC is incorrect or the data cable is damaged, you can’t find it in BIOS. The SATA cables can fall out of their connection easily.
There are many factors to cause external hard drive disappear from the computer. So the corresponding solutions are diversified. For instance, you can change a USB Port, run the troubleshooter, or update the driver of the external hard drive to try to make it appear.

Does your USB or external hard drive appear in Device Manager/Disk Management but not in Windows Explorer/My Computer/This PC? This article will guide you to completely fix 'USB external hard drive only showing in Device Manager' in Windows 7/8/8.1/10. Download EaseUS hard drive recovery software for free to recover data from USB, HDD and memory card not seen in Explorer.

USB/External hard drive only appears in Device Manager, how to make it show up in This PC or Windows Explorer?

Workable SolutionsStep-by-step Troubleshooting
Fix 1. Check it in Disk ManagementFirst, insert or connect the USB or external hard drive to your PC; check if...Full steps
Fix 2. Fix in Device Manager1. Update or reinstall device drivers; 2. Assign a new drive letter; 3. Format or create a new volume...Full steps
Fix 3. Access and recover dataDownload EaseUS hard drive recovery software > choose the drive to scan > recover...Full steps

'Hi guys, do you know how to make an external hard drive show up in This PC or Windows Explorer in Windows 10? I have a problem that my external USB drive shows up in Device Manager, but it doesn't display in the Windows Explorer.

I have some important files saved on the USB drive, so I need a secure way that can help me make the USB drive to appear and show up on This PC without losing any data.'

Are you having a similar issue on your USB or external hard drive in Windows 10, 8 or 7? Relax! Here below, you'll find a complete solution in three parts. Follow to fix “USB or external hard drive shows up in Device Manager but not explorer” error and restore all data by simple clicks.

Notice: If you have important data saved on your external hard drive or USB drive, do remember to check whether your saved data are available. If not, please refer to part 3 to access and restore data from USB or external hard drive after it showing up in Disk Management.

1. Check if USB/external hard drive detectable in Disk Management

When your external USB storage drive is not showing up in My Computer (Windows 7), This PC (Windows 8.1/10) or File Explorer, you should first make them detectable in Disk Management. And below tips will help you make it:

1. First, insert and connect the USB or external hard drive to your PC.

2. Check if it appears in Disk Management or not.

If not, try the below tips for help:

  1. #1. Press Win + X keys at the same time and select Disk Management > Check out if you can see your USB or external hard drive listed as a Removable disk.
  2. #2. Plug and insert your USB or external hard drive into a different USB port on your computer instead of using USB hubs.
  3. #3. Power on your USB or external hard drive if it's switched off and try to connect it to a different computer.

When the USB or external hard drive appears in the Disk Management, you can now follow Step 2 and Step 3 to restore your device out of 'USB/external hard drive not show up in This PC' error.

2. Fix 'USB/External hard drive showing in Device Manager only' error

If your USB or external hard drive does not show up in Explorer on your PC, you can now follow the three methods below to resolve this error now:

Method 1. Update or reinstall USB/external hard drive drivers

1. Connect your USB or external hard drive to your PC, go to Devices Manager > Click Universal Serial Bus Controllers.

2. Right-click your USB or external hard drive and click Uninstall > Unplug the drive.

3. Plug the USB/external hard drive back in your PC, and enter Device Manager again > Go to Universal Serial Bus Controllers.

4. Click to highlight and select the USB component to be updated.

5. Right-click USB and choose 'Update Driver Software' from the drop-down menu.

6. Follow the onscreen guide in Update Driver Software Wizard to update USB or external hard drive drivers.

Method 2. Assign USB/external hard drive with a new drive letter to make it appear in Windows Explorer

1. Press Win + X keys and click Disk Management.

External Storage Not Showing

2. Find and right-click on your USB or external hard drive and select Change Drive Letter and Path...

3. Click Add if the drive doesn't have a letter or assign a new letter to your drive, select a new drive letter and click OK to save all the changes.

Method 3. Format or create a new volume on USB/external hard drive

After this, you can then format and reset the file system on your USB or external hard drive to NTFS with tips below:

Notice: This method may erase or remove the existing data on your storage device, so please make sure that you've extracted your precious data to a secure device. If not, please refer to Step 3 and restore your data in advance with the help of powerful data recovery software.

1. Right-click Start and select Disk Management.

2. Locate and find your USB or external hard drive, right-click on it and select Format volume...

3. Reset the file system from FAT or RAW to NTFS, click OK to confirm and keep all changes.

If the USB or external hard drive shows up as unallocated space on Windows 10, you can create a new volume on the disk to make it usable for saving data again:

1. Press Win + X keys at the same time and select Disk Management.

2. Find and right-click the unallocated space on your USB or external hard drive and select New Simple Volume...

3. Recreate and set the drive file system with a new drive letter to make it detectable in This PC/Windows Explorer again.

3. Access and extract data in USB/external hard drive on Windows 10/8/7

If you saved essential data on your USB or external hard drive, follow this step to access, extract and restore all data out of the device with powerful hard disk recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.

This software supports you to restore data and repair undetectable flash drive or disk with simple clicks.

Step 1. Select a location to scan.

Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard, hover on the partition, external hard drive, USB, or memory card where you lost data, and then click 'Scan'.

Step 2. Select files to recover.

Wait until the scanning completes. Afterward, choose the files you want to recover. To locate the data faster, use the search bar or filter to search for specific files. To check a file, double-click the item to preview its content.

Step 3. Recover lost data.

Click 'Recover' and choose a location on another drive to save the files.